Can't get myself into maintenance mindset.

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  • Rainboots80
    Rainboots80 Posts: 218 Member
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    My plan is to eat at a deficit 5 days a week so I can have two cheat days a week once I hit maintenance.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    That is exactly why calorie counting does not work, diets do not work. That's why people lose their weight and then gain it all back plus a ton more. You have to learn to eat the right way all the time and to eat the right amount all the time and you need to do it without tracking calories or going on some fad diet or calorie restriction. Good luck.

    That may be your experience, but it is not mine. I've always exercised and eaten "the right way" and I've never been overweight, but as I've aged my weight started creeping up. Nothing about my eating or exercise habits had noticeably changed. Unless I pay attention and track my calories, I don't know for sure how much I'm really consuming. I can guess, but guesstimating doesn't work for me. MFP is a great tool for making sure I stay healthy rather than creeping up as the years go by.

    I have been on maintenance successfully for over 3 years now and I still log my calories - except for holidays and special occasions. It's super easy and it works, so why not do it? I brush my teeth every day (and that's a healthy habit), so I think I can handle taking 5 minutes to log after I've checked my email every night. Nothing unsustainable about that. I agree that fad diets and super restrictive plans aren't sustainable, but logging calories absolutely works. In fact, I find maintenance to be easier than weight loss.

    +1
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    To the OP: I think if you've been very disciplined and feeling a bit deprived, it's easy to just 'let go'. That is one reason that being relaxed about eating flexibly within your limits is important. It really is life.

    Get back on the horse. You can do it. As others have said, it's not that hard. Find food you love. Build activities into your life you enjoy. Find a balance.
  • MzCottonKandiKisses
    MzCottonKandiKisses Posts: 7 Member
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    Will I ever get to the point ?, I'm so tired of fad diets and decided to do it the right way this time. Do you gurus feel tracking your food makes a difference in weight loss? I find it time consuming
  • lwestmill
    lwestmill Posts: 91 Member
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    For me maintenance has been about three things:

    1.) When I was losing weight I never changed anything that I couldn't live with forever. I didn't cut out any foods. I still went out with friends.
    2.) I still log. It's been about 18 months since I reached goal weight. I continue to log pretty much every day. There may be a point where that's not necessary but right now I still think it is.
    3.) I have new goals. I started lifting and running, and actively trying to build muscle/lower my body fat percentage. The new goals gave me something new to focus on, because it's just not as exciting getting on the scale to see the number stay the same as it was to see the number going down.

    You've maintained for 18 months? You're my hero, that's discipline.

    I definitely think setting new goals might help. I think I experienced a bit of...depression? once I hit my goal weight. Like, oh, I did it, now what?

    I shouldn't have read this. I am reading the end of the book before I have finished reading the middle! AUGH! Please tell me you all are just kidding and this is a joke. Just a bad dream going bad? I don't want to count calories forever. I like this diet because it is working, however, I've been grumbling the entire time. I am not a person of discipline for long extended periods of time. Here's a question. Can you maintain w/o watching your calories and then when you gain five pounds, go back on the calorie count? I'm thinking that would be ok to do. Or am I totally off my rocker?
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
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    I've been maintainingfor two years. I still count my calories every day except vacations. Dedication and perseverance.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Honestly, for maintenance to work, you have to stay disciplined. I definitely ate at a deficit when I was losing but I never eliminated foods---I still haven't and I just try to stay at maintenance calories. For those who don't log---well, they usually learn to eyeball or get a feel for portion sizes. I do A LOT of snacking so that's not what works for me so I still log.

    This.

    Maintenance is trial and error too. Maintenance is a range, not a set number. I tend to fluctuate up/down by two pounds, but I've been staying in the range and my clothes are fitting the same. My challenging times are the weekends with more calories due to activities. I try to exercise more or save calorie up from the week to compensate. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
  • mamadon
    mamadon Posts: 1,422 Member
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    That is exactly why calorie counting does not work, diets do not work. That's why people lose their weight and then gain it all back plus a ton more. You have to learn to eat the right way all the time and to eat the right amount all the time and you need to do it without tracking calories or going on some fad diet or calorie restriction. Good luck.

    That may be your experience, but it is not mine. I've always exercised and eaten "the right way" and I've never been overweight, but as I've aged my weight started creeping up. Nothing about my eating or exercise habits had noticeably changed. Unless I pay attention and track my calories, I don't know for sure how much I'm really consuming. I can guess, but guesstimating doesn't work for me. MFP is a great tool for making sure I stay healthy rather than creeping up as the years go by.

    I have been on maintenance successfully for over 3 years now and I still log my calories - except for holidays and special occasions. It's super easy and it works, so why not do it? I brush my teeth every day (and that's a healthy habit), so I think I can handle taking 5 minutes to log after I've checked my email every night. Nothing unsustainable about that. I agree that fad diets and super restrictive plans aren't sustainable, but logging calories absolutely works. In fact, I find maintenance to be easier than weight loss.

    Calorie counting does work for many of us, even in maintenance. I continue to log simply because i need to keep track of my calories, or I am certain the weight will creep back on.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    For me maintenance has been about three things:

    1.) When I was losing weight I never changed anything that I couldn't live with forever. I didn't cut out any foods. I still went out with friends.
    2.) I still log. It's been about 18 months since I reached goal weight. I continue to log pretty much every day. There may be a point where that's not necessary but right now I still think it is.
    3.) I have new goals. I started lifting and running, and actively trying to build muscle/lower my body fat percentage. The new goals gave me something new to focus on, because it's just not as exciting getting on the scale to see the number stay the same as it was to see the number going down.

    You've maintained for 18 months? You're my hero, that's discipline.

    I definitely think setting new goals might help. I think I experienced a bit of...depression? once I hit my goal weight. Like, oh, I did it, now what?

    I shouldn't have read this. I am reading the end of the book before I have finished reading the middle! AUGH! Please tell me you all are just kidding and this is a joke. Just a bad dream going bad? I don't want to count calories forever. I like this diet because it is working, however, I've been grumbling the entire time. I am not a person of discipline for long extended periods of time. Here's a question. Can you maintain w/o watching your calories and then when you gain five pounds, go back on the calorie count? I'm thinking that would be ok to do. Or am I totally off my rocker?

    Yeah you can do it that way, assuming two things.

    1.) that you don't care about hitting specific macro targets (or are better at doing that in your head than I am), which is one of the reasons I still log
    2.) that you will be diligent about weighing in and getting back to a deficit if you start to creep up.


    I can maintain my weight fine without counting. But I don't do so well about hitting my macros and that's important to me because I'm a lifter.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Will I ever get to the point ?, I'm so tired of fad diets and decided to do it the right way this time. Do you gurus feel tracking your food makes a difference in weight loss? I find it time consuming

    Takes me less than 5 minutes per day. I'm well-practiced at it. It might take more if I have to enter a new recipe but it still isn't long. Weighing my food is second nature and I don't even think about it anymore.
  • Beckilovespizza
    Beckilovespizza Posts: 334 Member
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    I seem to be having similar issues. When trying to lose weight there is a goal to work towards and it's motivating to see a difference as ur body changes. Maintenance mindset for me is very difficult, I'm scared to gain again but I thought for some reason 'maintenance land' is this magical place where I can eat yum foods and a decent quantity... Ah to visit such a place... In reality according to my tdee because I'm a short-*kitten* maintenance is a pathetic 1331 calories per day, not magical which tends to make me want food so much, I never used to overeat in large quantities but I have been recently. I have to work out to have decent treats. The worse thing is nothing is changing anymore, no more feeling euphoric from losing and having people notice, having jeans that are too big etc.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
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    For me maintenance has been about three things:

    1.) When I was losing weight I never changed anything that I couldn't live with forever. I didn't cut out any foods. I still went out with friends.
    2.) I still log. It's been about 18 months since I reached goal weight. I continue to log pretty much every day. There may be a point where that's not necessary but right now I still think it is.
    3.) I have new goals. I started lifting and running, and actively trying to build muscle/lower my body fat percentage. The new goals gave me something new to focus on, because it's just not as exciting getting on the scale to see the number stay the same as it was to see the number going down.

    This. Although I find myself not eating enough and losing again rather than eating too much and gaining.
  • cathylopez1975
    cathylopez1975 Posts: 191 Member
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    I am fairly new to maintenance and continue to log - even though I'm not pre-logging like I was. I even ate dessert twice today without even having a clue of calories. I think the hardest thing to me is learning to trust myself. Through the journey to lose 95 lbs. I have learned portion control and when to stop, as well as how to craft a healthy meal. I just have to trust that I can continue to do what has gotten me to this point! So I will log food and exercise.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I seem to be having similar issues. When trying to lose weight there is a goal to work towards and it's motivating to see a difference as ur body changes. Maintenance mindset for me is very difficult, I'm scared to gain again but I thought for some reason 'maintenance land' is this magical place where I can eat yum foods and a decent quantity... Ah to visit such a place... In reality according to my tdee because I'm a short-*kitten* maintenance is a pathetic 1331 calories per day, not magical which tends to make me want food so much, I never used to overeat in large quantities but I have been recently. I have to work out to have decent treats. The worse thing is nothing is changing anymore, no more feeling euphoric from losing and having people notice, having jeans that are too big etc.

    Are you sure maintenance is that low?

    Have you tested to find your true TDEE?
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    For me maintenance has been about three things:

    1.) When I was losing weight I never changed anything that I couldn't live with forever. I didn't cut out any foods. I still went out with friends.
    2.) I still log. It's been about 18 months since I reached goal weight. I continue to log pretty much every day. There may be a point where that's not necessary but right now I still think it is.
    3.) I have new goals. I started lifting and running, and actively trying to build muscle/lower my body fat percentage. The new goals gave me something new to focus on, because it's just not as exciting getting on the scale to see the number stay the same as it was to see the number going down.


    I do pretty much the same. Especially the new goals thing. I'm training to be a Zumba instructor, just got my certification, but need to get a group fitness instructor fitness certification and choreograph a class to teach.
  • TAMayorga
    TAMayorga Posts: 341 Member
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    I have been at maintenance for 7 or 8 months, but MFP doesn't know it. All the previous repliers above me are correct about mindset, life-style change, etc. But it doesn't work for me. When I was losing, and went a few (or a few hundred) Calories over for the day, it simply created a plateau that I eventually overcame. But with maintenance, if you do that too often, you'll gain.
    You might be interested in a mind trick I play with myself. As I said, I didn't tell MFP that I'm at goal. I created an artificial goal 5 lbs lower than my original goal. And I haven't updated my weight since October 2013. So MFP hasn't given me those extra Calories that are our "reward" for achieving goal. And however you handle it, good luck to you!
  • raindawg
    raindawg Posts: 348 Member
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    For me I set Sunday as a free day. In order to "fund" that free day I ate at 100 calories below maintenance Monday through Saturday. That kept me motivated to log and track every day. I still felt like I had a goal to hit each day. Then on Sunday's I eat whatever and how much I wanted. I'm on a lean bulk now so am eating a surplus currently.
  • Beckilovespizza
    Beckilovespizza Posts: 334 Member
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    I seem to be having similar issues. When trying to lose weight there is a goal to work towards and it's motivating to see a difference as ur body changes. Maintenance mindset for me is very difficult, I'm scared to gain again but I thought for some reason 'maintenance land' is this magical place where I can eat yum foods and a decent quantity... Ah to visit such a place... In reality according to my tdee because I'm a short-*kitten* maintenance is a pathetic 1331 calories per day, not magical which tends to make me want food so much, I never used to overeat in large quantities but I have been recently. I have to work out to have decent treats. The worse thing is nothing is changing anymore, no more feeling euphoric from losing and having people notice, having jeans that are too big etc.

    Are you sure maintenance is that low?

    Have you tested to find your true TDEE?

    It does seem pretty low, I have been on about 5 sites, worked my tdee out and took the average. If I can eat more I'd be really happy as a life on 1331 seems a bit sad. I have put in sedentary and I eat back exercise cals as I am not consistent enough to say I work out x times a week etc. this is nice though so I can have treats when I have exercised.
  • svelt123
    svelt123 Posts: 173 Member
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    :bigsmile: Guess What. You are already there! You are still in control! You know what you have been doing and not been doing.
    You are aware of your old habits creeping in there. So just do get back to it. The weight loss mode does Not exist. The heathy eating and heathy living mode is what you were doing. So just get back to it. Don't beat yourself up. It happens. What is great is that you are mindful about what is going on and you are honest with yourself. You know what to do. :wink: :flowerforyou:
  • ianthy
    ianthy Posts: 404 Member
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    I am in a similar place. I have 10lbs to go and started reverse dieting - adding just 100 cals a day/week as I move towards maintenance. In the past my approach has been to get back to normal cals as soon as poss, throw out the diet plan and exercise! Got me nothing but weight gain and back on the weight loss loop.

    This time I have found that planning is key at the moment - the same discipline that I used during the weight loss stage needs to be used even more during this stage. I track everything, bought a small scales for weighing food, kettle bell for workouts when I can not access a gym/walk and also started with Fitbit yesterday. All designed to keep me on track and provide the info that I can not ignore in moving towards maintenance.

    As many have posted think of how hard you have worked during the weight loss stage - employ the same discipline. Also see if any of your MFP friends are in maintenance and connect up regularly - it's great support.

    Best of luck and feel free to add me to your friends list if you think it would help.

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